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ENTERING THE TRENCHES 

One Hundred and Sixty-fifth Infan- 
try (formerly 69th Regiment Infan- 
try, New York National Guard) and 
165th Machine Gun Company, First 
Battalion, entering Trenches, Crois- 
mare, France, March 2, 1918. 



o 



H, say, can you see by the dawn's early light 

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's gleaming? 
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous 
night 
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly stream- 
ing! 

Oh, say, does the Star Spangled Banner yet wave 
O'er the land of the free and the homes of the brave ? 

—Francis Scott Key, Baltimore, 1814. 



IFT up your heads, desponding freedmen — 

Fling to the winds your needless fears! 
He who unfurled that glorious banner 
Said it should wave a thousand years! 
A thousand years, mine own Columbia! 
'Tis the glad day so long foretold — • 
'Tis the glad morn whose early twilight 
Washington saw in days of old! 

—Fragment of Old Song. 



1^ I /X/tr-a^^^OHCAMA^ J 



TRENCH TALKS 

of the WORLD WAR 



AS TOLD BY AMERICAN 
OFFICERS AND MEN 



COMPANION BOOK TO 
"CAMP-FIRE CHATS OF THE CIVIL WAR" 
EMBRACING THE TRAGEDY, ROMANCE, 
COMEDY, HUMOR AND PATHOS IN THE 
VARIED EXPERIENCES OF ARMY LIFE 



By WASHINGTON DAVIS 

AUTHOR OF "camp-fire CHATS," "THE PROVOST 
GUARD," "THE SYNDIC," ETC. 



SUBSCRIPTION EDITION 



HISTORY PUBLISHING COMPANY 
WASHINGTON 



"D bio 

;u3 



Copyrigrht. 1920. 1921. by 

WASHINGTON DAVIS 

Washing'ton. D. C. 

All rights reserved 



Copyright. 1922. by 

HISTORY PUBLISHING COMPANY 

Washing-ton. D. C. 

All rig-hts reserved 



FEB -7 1922 



g)3!.A553770 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



(Photographs by U. S. Signal Service) 



Pag-e 



Entering the Trenches Frontispiece 

Marines on Way to Rest Area from Belleau Wood 
Battle 



Chateau-Thierry Bridge After American Victory 
Germans Laying Pontoon Bridge Across Marne 
German Air Fighter Destroyed by Americans 
Military Engineers Forwarding Explosives . 
Varennes Village in Meuse-Argonne Ruins . 
Rolling Kitchens Protected by Hills . . . 
Tanks, or Land Dreadnaughts ..... 
Artillery Camouflaged After Crossing Marne River 
Third Division Field Artillery in Meuse-Argonne 
United States Navy Guarding Cuban Sugar Ships 
Ruins of Belleau Wood Village After War . . . 
"Calamity Jane," Last American Gun Fired . . 
"Big Bertha," German Gun, After Wrecking . . 
French Red Cross Feeding German Soldiers . . 



OFFICERS AND MEN 



Contributors of American historical material 
in this volume as authorized by the Secretary of 
War under the direction of the Adjutant Gen- 
eral, Major General P. C. Harris, namely: 



The Asst. Adjutant General 
Brig. Gen. James T. Kerr 

The Quartermaster General 
Maj. Gen. H. L. Rogers 

Col. John S. Chambers 

Col. R. H. C. Kelton 

Col. W. C. Rivers 

Col. Jas. A. Moss 

Col. Geo. S. Patton, Jr. 

Lt. Col. J. H. Adams 

Maj. R. C. Richardson, Jr. 

Mr. R. D. 



Maj. J. E. Yates, Chaplain 
Maj. Earl Hamilton Smith 
Capt. Harrj'^ L. Bennett 
Capt. John Thomas Taylor 
Capt. Harold E. Hartney 
Capt. C. W. Sands 
Capt. Arthur G. Duncan 
Sgt. C. E. Wiley 
Sgt. Jas. E. Cahill 
Sgt. Maj. C. P. Shaeffer 
Mr. Walter S. Kays, A. G. O. 
Thomas, M. C. 



MARINE CORPS 



Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune 
Maj. Adjt. Harry R. Lay 
Maj. Charles D. Barrett 
Lt. Col. Thomas Holcomb 



Capt. J. H. Craige 
Capt. E. H. Jenkins 
Capt. LeRoy P. Hunt 
Grover T. Chatman 



AVIATION 



Maj. A. A. Cunningham Lt. W. P. T. Hill 

Lt. Guy Williamson 



AND OTHERS 



EXPLANATION 

* Trench Talks of the World War," companion book 
of "Came-Fire Chats," is written and published 
for the purpose of entertaining and instructing those 
who want, in addition to their dull conventional his- 
tory, a more vivid and illuminating view of Ameri- 
can events in Europe and elsewhere during and sub- 
sequent to hostilities from April 6, 1917, the decla- 
ration of war, until the proclamation of peace, Au- 
gust 25, 1921. This volume is authentic American 
history in narrative form. 

Much valuable, interesting, humane history, aside 
from official reports, would have been lost, as mem- 
ories grow old and dim, unless these fascinating 
stories are printed before the officers and men 
themselves shall have passed beyond the reach of 
the writers. The publication of these stories, be- 
sides furnishing wholesome literature, uncovers at 
least a few lessons which otherwise would have been 
lost to future generations; and the movement of 
4,000,000 men in battle array to preserve civiliza- 
tion, with the expenditure of nearly $30,000,000,000 



8 EXPLANATION 

of hard-earned American money — indeed, the whole 
World War with its appalling destruction of human 
life and property, causing many subsequent years 
of distress — this military movement and this colos- 
sal expenditure of money would have been utterly 
in vain, and a step would have been taken back- 
ward toward the Dark Ages. 

Unless we publish the history, all this expenditure 
of human life and treasure will have been in vain. 
Civilization barely triumphed over barbarism and 
the benefits of that triumph can be realized only 
by a careful study of the records from many points 
of view. 

Just how these 4,000,000 men are to be compen- 
sated; just how their services and sacrifices are to 
be recognized; just when and how this $30,000,- 
000,000 borrowed from the people is to be paid back 
by ignoring the records and the facts, whether 
glorious or disagreeable, and by declining their dis- 
passionate discussion; just how these desirable re- 
sults are to be attained without the printed book, 
all is not quite clear to the average man's under- 
standing. 

Free from political or religious or moral exploita- 
tion, or selfish personal ambition, and other befog- 
ging elements; impartial in their selection, these 



EXPLANATION 9 

stories may furnish some enlightenment to those 
who wish to know the truth. 

Yet few people realize the difficulties and the mag- 
nitude of the work required to gather material of 
this character for only one volume. It is one thing 
to plan campaigns, fight battles, feed troops, and 
furnish comfortable camping grounds; it is quite 
another, quite as important, to write the history of 
these operations. as obtained from the original, in- 
dividual sources of personal experiences, observa- 
tions and reminiscences by officers and men who 
were in the active overseas seryice of the World 
War. 

The data for these trench and billet talks and 
the various incidents that actually occurred on the 
battlefield or elsewhere have been obtained by more 
than one hundred and fifty interviews, verified 
where necessary by military and other records, 
many of the narratives being tragic, romantic, hu- 
morous or pathetic ; but in addition to the authentic 
history herein, all these sidelights will be found 
reliable. 

No one writer could produce these historical 
stories, which are in no sense a compilation, but are 
a collection of undoubted historical value. The au- 
thor's work has been only to turn them into con- 



10 EXPLANATION 

sistent literary form, and his association with the 
gentlemen of the War Department has been pleasant. 
Each narrator's name and rank is printed with his 
story, and the teller of each story is therefore re- 
sponsible for the tale he has told, which is in the 
English language sufficiently terse and plain, so that 
when one sentence has been spoken it does not re- 
quire a paragraph or a whole volume of platitudes 
to explain what he said. 

Conversations and statements of officers and men 
generally will be found in quotation marks (" — "), 
while historical researches by the improvised Code 
Company are in brackets ( [ — ] ) . 

American literature owes to these accomplished 
contributors its due appreciation; whether or not 
this debt is ever paid is for the reader to determine. 
The interviews to obtain the material for these 
"talks" were authorized by the following letter: 

WAR DEPARTMENT 

THE ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE 
WASHINGTON 

Mr. Washington Davis, 
Washington, D. C. 
My dear Mr. Davis : 

In reply to your request for authority 
to interview officers and enlisted men of the 



EXPLANATION H 

army with a view to securing material for 
a book to be entitled "Trench Talks of the 
World War," or similar title, I have the 
honor to advise you, by authority of the 
Secretary of War, that you are at liberty to 
obtain such interviews as you desire. 

Under existing orders and regulations, 
members of the military service are allowed 
to publish or furnish for publication what- 
ever they desire unless the matter is confi- 
dential or of a nature which might be preju- 
dicial to the service. For the protection of 
members of the service furnishing matter 
for the book, it is requested that such mat- 
ter be submitted to the Adjutant General 
of the Army before publication, as you have 
suggested, to insure that there is no objec- 
tion to the publication. 

You are at liberty to use this letter to 
assist in obtaining interviews if you so 
desire. 

Very truly yours, 

P. C. HARRIS, 
The Adjutant General. 



WHERE AMERICANS DEFEATED 
GERMANS 

The illustration opposite this page 
shows the wrecked bridge over the 
Marne River and ruined buildings at 
Chateau-Thierry, where machine gun- 
ners of Third Division held ground. 
One Hundred and Fifteenth Field Ar- 
tillery on the way to relieve 26th 
Division, Chateau-Thierry, France, 
July 25, 1918. 



^'CALAMITY JANE," LAST 
AMERICAN GUN 

The illustration opposite this page 
shows "Calamity Jane," the last gun 
fired on the American front, and First 
Lieutenant H. F. Phillips, who fired it. 
Official time, 10:59:59; actual time, 
11 :05 a. m., November 11, 1918. This 
was Gun No. 2 of Battery E, 11th 
Field Artillery. Serial No. 3125. It 
was also the first gun to hit the 
Sedan-Metz Railroad. Bois de la Haie, 
on the Laneuville sur Meuse-Beauclair 
Road, Meuse, France. November 16, 
1918. 



AFTER BELLEAU WOOD 
BATTLES 

The illustration opposite this page 
shows marines en route to rest camp 
after 16 days at the front, First Bat- 
talion, Fourth Brigade, Fifth United 
States Marines, Second Division, 
Major J. S. Turrill, commanding. (Re- 
mains of battalion after two replace- 
ments.) On road between Montrieul 
and Chateau-Thierry, France. June 
18, 1918. 



CONTENTS 

TALK I 
Opening Voyage of Headquarters Staff and Troops of First 
Small American Expeditionary Force on the Baltic from 
New York to Paris After the Declaration of War — Diffi- 
cult, Rapid Work of Preparations — Lively Personal Expe- 
riences. 

TALK II 
The Emergency at Chateau-Thierry, or the Second Battle of 
the Marne — First Eeal Engagement of "Green" American 
Troops Victorious Against Picked German Veterans — One 
of the Vital Turning Points of the War. 

TALK III 
How it Feels to be "Gassed" by the Germans — Sleeping Be- 
tween "Honest to God" Sheets — Fourth Infantry Regi- 
mental Runner Tells of Dangerous Night, Artillery Bar- 
rage, and Hill 204 — First Aviation Battle Over Zeebrugge 
and Ostend, Belgium — Feeding Troops from the Air. 

TALK IV 

Capturing and Shipping the First Bunch of 560 Heavy Siege 
Gun Horses and Cavalry Remounts for the American 
Front — The Secret Code Company and the Belgian Bay 
that Didn't Know "Eng-glash"— Big Team of "Ghost 
Horses" Found in a Covered Old Cellar. 

TALK V 
Military Engineers Handle the Dangerous Explosive TNT 
While Under Fire on the St. Mihiel Front— "Canned Sand- 
wiches" — Tell-Tale Finger Prints Aid in Catching the 
Champion Deserter, Who Had Enlisted in Army, Navy, 
and Marine Corps Altogether Twenty-nine Times — What 
the War Department Finger Print System is. 

TALK VI 
Clash Between American Military Police and French Civil- 



20 CONTENTS 



ians— Ball Game of "One Old Cat" Played with Potatoes- 
Medal of Honor Man, Frank Luke, 27th Aero Squadron, 
Destroyed Eighteen German War Balloons in Seventeen 
Days. 

TALK VII 

General Dickman's Famous Reply at French War Confer- 
ence — "Nous Resterons la," "Americans Will Stick" — Lan- 
guage Difficulties of American Soldiers in Present Army 
of Occupation — Heine Had Lived in "Tscheecaago, Eel- 
nose," — Nurse Knocked Out a Healthy Hun. 

TALK VIII 

West Indies Feel the Beginning of the War — Chasing Bandits 
in the Black Republic of Haiti and San Domingo — Marine 
Slogan, "Do the Best You Can with What You Have"— 
Sharp Work by Squadron D, First Division of the Marine 
Aviation Force — Airplane in Guerrilla Warfare. 

TALKS IX— X 

The Long Fight in the "Woods of the Marine Brigade," 
Otherwise Belleau Wood — 143-Year-Old Organization 
Against Veteran Prussian Troops — Hunt for Six Sheep 
"After We Get the Crown Prince's Goat" — Quiet-Looking 
Towns — Twenty Days' Record-Breaking Battle by U. S. 
Marines Wins Belleau Wood from Crack German Troops — 
Yanks Break Up a Boche Harvesting Party. 

TALK XI 

Breaking Up a Vicious Nest of German Snipers on the St. 
Mihiel Sector Front — Grover M. Chatman, 75th Company, 
First Battalion, Sixth Marines, Wins Four Distinguished 
Service Medals — The Treacherous Cry of "Kamerad" — 
The American Hog Refined Into Poetry. 

TALK XII 

General Pershing at Prince of Wied's Ball — "Anti-Grumbling" 
Social Order for Nurses and Enlisted Men — The Girl in 
the Gingham Apron — Mules, Mud, and Matrimony in "Ole 
Virginia." 

TALK XIII 

Desperate Night Battle by Marine Battalion of Fifth Army 
Corps in Fog and Woods While Crossing Meuse River 



CONTENTS 21 



Just Before Signing of Armistice, November 10-11, 1918 — 
Reading of the Message of Peace at the Front. 

TALK XIV 
War-Time Voyage of 25,000 Miles from San Francisco, Cal., 
to St. Mihiel, France — Soldier Life in the Philippines — 
German Propaganda and Dona Isabelle's Liberty Bonds — 
Sorting Mail at Paris Headquarters. 

TALK XV 

Rolling Kitchen Dinner on French Battle Front for General 
Pershing and Headquarters Staff — 172,558,512 Cans of 
Thirst-Quenching Tomatoes for Troops During the War — 
Columbus Discovered "Love Apple" Boon to American 
Soldiers. 

TALK XVI 

"Treat 'Em Rough," or First Tank Corps Advances Into 
No-Man's-Land Through German Infantry Lines and Back 
Again — American Land Battleships in the St. Mihiel Of- 
fensive, September 12, 1918 — Captain Semmes Drags 
Driver from the River by the Ears. 

TALK XVII 

Hunting Big Game in Panama — Three Kinds of Signs — 
Chinese on Que's Plan to Get Rich Quick in Paris — Roll- 
ing Kitchen Mule Dismounts Stubby Jake. 

TALK XVIII 
Dashing Cavalry Battles in the Meuse-Argonne Sector — Sec- 
ond Cavalry Provisional Squadron Under Colonel O. 
M. P. Hazzard Breaks Up Two Machine Gun Nests and 
Captures Fifty Guns — Tribute to the Horse — "Bringing 
Home the Bacon" — Nearly One Hundred Years of Service. 

TALK XIX 
After Hard Service at the Front, Soldiers Have Refreshment 
Days in Leave Areas Provided by the United States Gov- 
ernment and Social Organizations — What Sherman and 
Napoleon Said About Feeding Armies — Echoes of Former 
Talks. 

TALK XX 
Gigantic Task of Placing 4,000,000 Personnel of the American 
Army — Organization — Expert Interviewers — "Passing 
Culls" — What the Army Guarantees to Illiterates. 



22 CONTENTS 



TALK XXI 

Piercing the Enemy's "Hindenburg Line" at St. Mihiel — At 
Night Captain Bennett Leads Company K, 26th Infantry 
Through No-Man's-Land Under the Enemy's Shell Fire — 
How You Feel When a "Dud," or a "Crash," or a "Blank" 
Hits You or Your Comrade. 

TALK XXII 
Great Guns — American "Calamity Jane," English "Long 
Tom," German "Big Bertha," and the Naval "Unknown"— 
First Lieutenant H. F. Phillips, Eleventh Field Artillery, 
Fires Last Shot on the American Front Immediately 
Before the Armistice — What Krupp Did — Brockhurst 
Drives District of Columbia Bread Wagon in France. 

TALK XXIII 

Why the German High Command Preferred the Word "Armi- 
stice" to the Word "Surrender" — The Major Military 
Movements of St. Mihiel and the Argonne — Personal Final 
Report of General Pershing to the Secretary of War. 

TALK XXIV 
Battery of Fifty-Third Railroad Artillery Shows Two Meth- 
ods of Fighting — Chaplain Yates Tells of a Merry Christ- 
mas to French Children — America at Its Best. 

TALK XXV 

Hold Fifty Banquets on Three Continents to Celebrate the 

146th Anniversary of the Quartermaster Corps — Fourteen 

Billion Dollars ($14,000,000,000.00) United States Money 

Expended Without a Scandal — Bright History of the Corps. 

TALK XXVI 

Where American Boys Become Men, then Gentlemen, then 
Army Officers — Story of West Point Military Academy for 
More than 100 Years from General Washington and Bene- 
dict Arnold to the World War. 

TALK XXVII 
Origin, Progress, and History of the American Legion from 
its Inception at Paris to the Present Time. 

TALK XXVIII 
Reconstruction and Peace Talk — Conferences and Conclu- 
sion — Hymn of Peace. 



TALK I 

OPENING VOYAGE OF HEADQUARTERS STAFF AND TROOPS OF 
FIRST SMALL AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE ACROSS THE 
ATLANTIC OCEAN— LIVELY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AFTER 
THE DECLARATION OF WAR— DIFFICULT. RAPID PREPARATIONS. 

AS the curtain rolls upward exposing to view 
the vivid liistory of the greatest military 
upheaval which this grand, beautiful old 
world has ever seen, a few strong side-lights upon 
the various features of Army life as it really is 
nowadays, show many interesting and peculiar 
things pertaining to the World War, as well as many 
vivid stories in American history as disclosed by 
the officers and men whose every act and deed are 
a part of our history during that period. 

The hidden evils of Europe were showing them- 
selves frequently along our sea coasts as well as in 
our great cities and the nations and peoples overseas 
were calling, calling, calling for help — calling for 
money — for hard-earned dollars, for dimes, for pen- 
nies, pounds sterling, shillings, pence, marks, francs, 
rubles, lire, and yen; begging for food, for guns, 
ammunition, troops, and ships. The thrill of war at 



24 TRENCH TALKS OF THE WORLD WAR 

a distance, but fast approaching our shores, kept 
America on the tip-toe of expectation and the drum- 
beat and the heart-beat of this nation quietly but 
eagerly marked time against the day when activities 
should begin; so that we were not entirely unpre- 
pared for the declaration of war against Germany 
and were ready, as we always are, in some respects, 
to take our places on the firing line along with the 
troops of the allies in their desperate conflict for 
the defense of civilization. 

American public sentiment had drawn its con- 
clusion and with its conclusion had drawn its sword. 

But a soldier can not fight unless he eats and 
sleeps, has a comfortable uniform, a good gun, and 
plenty of ammunition, with necessary transporta- 
tion. These had to be provided quickly. The hur- 
ried but real activities of war, as usual, demanded 
much from the Quartermaster's Corps of the Army 
before American valor, gentility, manhood and 
honor, theretofore unconquered and unconquerable, 
could be pitted against the perjured pledges, broken 
treaties, or "scraps of paper" of the Kaiser, whose 
subjects had been carefully trained and prepared for 
half a century for the resort to arms. 

To provide transportation and supplies for three 
million American troops recruited three thousand 



TRENCH TALKS OF THE WORLD WAR 25 

miles from the battlefields, across an ocean, was in- 
deed a gigantic task. The need of the world- 
renowned, famous American army mule, with his 
long, honorable record of unflinching Civil War 
service, was not less keenly felt than the want of 
the modern motor car, and also ships, ships, ships. 
To find a suitable troop ship for the first contingent 
of the expeditionary forces to France, was the duty 
of Colonel John S. Chambers, of the Quartermaster 
General's staff, and his experience before and during 
this voyage is characteristic. 

"Possibly our people have never realized the im- 
portant role that America played in the late World 
War," said Colonel Chambers in beginning these 
"Talks." Those of us who served overseas were 
muzzled by censorship, and since the war natural 
modesty has served in most instances to prevent us 
from blowing our own horn. However, I am con- 
vinced that, as time goes on, the part that America's 
munitions, supplies, money, and men played in this 
war will be more appreciated. The fact that the 
American corps with the British stiffened the Brit- 
ish resistance and added just the little additional 
weight that was required to bring about an offen- 
sive is known to those who participated and to our 
higher officers, but probably to few others. 



26 TRENCH TALKS OF THE WORLD WAR 

"The fact that the little handful, so to speak, of 
American troops undoubtedly stopped the great 
German drive on Paris is probably not appreciated 
by those who have not carefully studied the situa- 
tion. Few suspect that the capture of St. Mihiel was 
one of the most notable pieces of military tactics 
employed during the war. Probably few have real- 
ized that our own great commander in chief was the 
strongest advocate of offensive warfare in Europe, 
and that those grilling and gruelling drives by Amer- 
ican Armies went a long way toward breaking the 
backbone of German resistance. In this talk, however, 
I will keep away from dry history and try to give 
a human-interest story of the American Expedi- 
tionary Force on the Mayflower ship, the Baltic, 
in May, 1917. 

"In April, 1917, after the declaration of war, I 
was ordered to Washington, D. C., for duty in the 
office of the Quartermaster General. Upon arrival 
in Washington I was assigned to duty under the im- 
mediate supervision of General A. L. Smith. Among 
the duties which fell to my lot were arranging for 
the field ranges and bakery equipment for an army 
of a million men and for a reserve for another mil- 
lion, and planning the rolling kitchens which were 
adopted and used by our Army throughout the war. 



TRENCH TALKS OF THE WORLD WAR 27 

At this time the Quartermaster General's office had 
become a hive of industry, and about the middle 
of May, if my memory serves me correctly, a few 
officers of the Quartermaster Corps were given to 
understand confidentially that they were to go over 
with the headquarters. 

"I shall never forget the manner in which the 
news was finally broken to me that I was to be a 
member of the expedition. On May 16, at about 10 
a. m., I had received a telegram from Marfa, Texas, 
to the effect that a small son had arrived in my 
family and that all was well. While I was reading 
this telegram I had a telephone message and some- 
one at the other end announced that it was the office 
of the Chief of Staff and that I was to report to the 
office of the Chief of Staff at 3 p. m. 

'When I walked into the room you can imagine 
my surprise when I saw sitting over in one corner 
of the room. General Pershing; in another section 
of the room, General (then Major) James G. Har- 
bord, and in another section. Colonel Alvord and 
Major John L. Hines, Major Fox Connor, Lieutenant 
Collins and two or three others. I didn't know what 
was up, but was informed that I was to be a quar- 
termaster with the expedition to France. The news 
took me so by surprise that I was unable to say any- 



28 TRENCH TALKS OF THE WORLD WAR 

thing, but managed to mumble, Well, I will do the 
best I can. Is there anything else I can do?' 

"Our problem in arranging for anticipated needs 
of the expedition to France and whatever troops 
were to follow was an exceedingly difficult one. We 
did not have much definite information upon which 
to base our actions. No one could foresee what the 
conditions would be in France, and we had only a 
short time in which to make any preparations. To 
show some of the difficulties under which we worked, 
I might say that I remember that we arranged to 
have the hold of the first troop ship sent over filled 
with cordwood, so that we would have plenty of fuel. 
We had heard that the fuel supply of France was 
scarce. However, it later developed that there was 
probably more standing timber in France than the 
expeditionary forces could use. But we were not 
the only ones who were handicapped. Our good 
friends, the Signal Corps, lumbered up the Baltic 
with about twenty-seven ordinary long American 
wooden telephone poles, and these were carried all 
the way, I think, to Paris before they were finally 
disposed of. I say this not in a spirit of criticism, 
but simply to show the conditions which con- 
fronted us. 

"Colonel J. M. Carson, who was then depot quar- 



TRENCH TALKS OF THE WORLD WAR 29 

termaster at New York, was instructed to see what 
arrangements could be made for the transportation 
of the party overseas. As a result of his inquiries 
and the action by the War Department, accommoda- 
tions were finally engaged for the entire party on 
the White Star steamship Baltic. The sailing date 
was postponed two or three times, and it became 
quite a joke to those of us who were in the party as 
to whether we should sail tomorrow or not. 

"I look back on those few days spent in Wash- 
ington as days of the most intense strain, with pos- 
sibly one exception, through which I have ever 
passed. On account of my being the only officer 
of the Quartermaster Corps assigned to the expedi- 
tion who was on duty in Washington, it seemed that 
there were a million questions popped at me every 
day for solution, not only by the officers who were 
going over, but by telephones and telegrams by 
members of the party inquiring about arrangements 
and giving notification of their arrival. Field clerks, 
civilian clerks, interpreters, and enlisted men, all of 
whom had received secret orders, came at me with 
multitudes of questions. The party was gradually 
increased, and I doubt very much if anyone other 
than the commander-in-chief and his immediate staff 
knew who were to sail until he was finally aboard 
the ship and out of the harbor. 



30 TRENCH TALKS OF THE WORLD WAR 

"We were directed verbally to leave Washington 
separately and go to New York in our civilian 
clothes, so as not to attract attention. We were or- 
dered to report to Governor's Island, N. Y., at a 
certain hour and date. The morning we reached 
Governor's Island was a typical chilly, foggy, drizzly 
New York harbor day. As I now recall that little 
assemblage. I do not believe I ever saw a collection 
of more varied styles of civilian clothes. Some, who 
had been on duty in the cities and had bought their 
new Easter suits, looked like an advertisement for a 
clothing store. Others, like myself, who had been 
on duty for several years on the border, showed that 
we had not recently consulted a tailor nor had had 
time to go to a clothing store and buy a hand-me- 
down. Hats of the vintage from 1898 to 1917 were 
in evidence. There were neckties of every hue of 
the rainbow and trousers of solid colors in black, 
tan, and gray, and some striped; some did not fit 
very well and looked as if they had been borrowed 
from civilian friends. 

"Speaking of uniforms, the nearest I ever came to 
seeing the King of England was to see him in the 
movie, and he was dressed in the ordinary dress of 
the British officer. I never saw the President of 
France, but the highest officials I saw were dressed 



TRENCH TALKS OF THE WORLD WAR 31 

in civilian suits apparently made for comfort. As 
for the uniforms of French officers, most every offi- 
cer you met had some sort of a different uniform. 
Taking it all in all, however, I do not think they had 
as many varieties as our olive drab. 

"Coming back to our departure, we cruised around 
the fog in New York Harbor an hour or so and soon 
there appeared out of the distance the bulky out- 
lines of the good ship Baltic. I have read as a boy 
about pirates forcing people to walk the gangplank, 
but until my experience in walking across the slick 
and slim gangplank from the harbor steamer into 
the side of the Baltic, I never realized what it meant. 
The sea was choppy and rough, it was a windy day, 
and the little steamer tossed up and down like a 
cork, but we all managed some way or another to 
clamor aboard. Some of the trunks containing full 
regalia and uniforms slid overboard in the attempt 
to get them into the Baltic, but as it turned out, 
those who lost their trunks were fortunate because 
they had fewer difficulties on arriving on the other 
side, and there was hardly any occasion to use them. 

"Our trip over was not particularly exciting. We 
cruised about a day or so off a place alleged to be 
Halifax, although I have not to this date discovered 
where it was. I had never been on a ship the size 



32 TRENCH TALKS OF THE WORLD WAR 

of the Baltic before and I spent considerable time 
rambling around in places where I was permitted to 
go examining the ship. Colonel McCarthy, our chief 
quartermaster, called the officers of the Quartermas- 
ter Corps together. In addition to the regular offi- 
cers there were a number of emergency officers who 
spoke French and who later joined our party. We 
had conferences and talks and discussions and 
formed such plans as we could concerning our duties. 
Being the junior regular quartermaster aboard, I 
was assigned the unromantic task of remaining be- 
hind the main party and taking care of the baggage. 
"There were several members of the British Mili- 
tary Mission aboard and we were frequently assem- 
bled in one of the saloons behind closed doors, where 
these gentlemen gave some of us our first insight 
into the real hell that war is. We also divided into 
small sections of about five officers to a class and 
took up the study of French. We were instructed 
to learn to sing the Marseillaise in French. I leave 
to hearer or reader to imagine the musical effect ob- 
tained by a bunch of American Army Officers, who 
were not noted for their accomplishments as vocal 
artists, to be thus called upon to render an air in 
French. I think there were one or two Frenchmen 
aboard, but during our music lessons they were not 
within sight or hearing. 



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